San Fermín - Encierro - Bulls Run

Thursday, December 07, 2006

The festival of San Fermín is held annually from 6 July to 14 July in the city of Pamplona in northern Spain.The most famous event in this festival is the running of the bulls, that is also called the Encierro.

Each morning's event starts at 8 a.m. Competitors are clad in white, with a red handkerchief (the pañuelo) tied about their necks, and a red sash (the faja) tied around their waist. The runners gather in an area at the beginning of the route called Cuesta de Santo Domingo, where they sing three times an ode before a statue of San Fermin placed in a niche in a wall there:

A San Fermín pedimos, por ser nuestro patrón, nos guíe en el encierro, dándonos su bendición. ("We ask San Fermín, as our Patron, to guide us through the Bull Run, giving us his blessing.") - Anyone who survives a close encounter with panicky bull is said to have been protected by San Fermin's cloak.Here are some useful tips if you want to attend to the bull run.